Advertisement
BLACK FRIDAY OFFER: 3 months for just £9.99
SUBSCRIBE
Books

The Big Issue’s top 5 books about bookshops

The Big Issue's books editor Jane Graham picks the best reads to get you in the spirit for Bookshop Day on October 5

Independent Bookshops Alliance

Browse edited by Henry Hitchings

In 2016 esteemed editor Henry Hitchings asked 15 of his favourite authors to pen an ode to the bookshop which had most impacted their life and work. The result is this magical carpet ride around the globe, stopping off to visit the beloved hermitages of the likes of Ali Smith, Andrey Kurkov, Dorthe Nors, Elif Shafak and Iain Sinclair. Dreamy.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad

For more than 20 years Sultan Khan endured interrogation and imprisonment by the Afghan authorities for smuggling books to grateful readers. Seierstad tells the fascinating story of Khan and his family in the most febrile
of environments. 

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald 

Through the story of Mrs Green’s modest little new bookshop in Fifties Suffolk, Fitzgerald charts the politics, rivalries, and memory jolts of a small town. This is classic Fitzgerald; funny, warm, understated, and ultimately very touching.  

Advertisement
Advertisement

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

An elegantly written homage to the classic romance/mystery mash-up. The pleasure of Setterfield’s beguiling tale is that much of its allure comes from the books which populate its setting.

Bookshops by Jorge Carrión

This brilliant tour of notable bookshops around the world – from Paris’ famous Shakespeare & Co to the historic Librairie des Colonnes in Tangiers – not only serves as a mouthwatering travelogue, but as a thrilling centuries-spanning literary history. Carrión delves into the rich history of books, libraries, bookshops and the legendary characters who owned them, browsed them and wrote the books which filled them.  

Celebrate Bookshop Day on Saturday October 5.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Juice by Tim Winton review – asking big questions after the apocalypse
Books

Juice by Tim Winton review – asking big questions after the apocalypse

The truth is we're all sinners – it's how we survive as human beings
Neuroscience

The truth is we're all sinners – it's how we survive as human beings

Top 5 books with a hero, chosen by teacher and author Jack Jackman
Books

Top 5 books with a hero, chosen by teacher and author Jack Jackman

Ground by Jadelin Gangbo review – hope for healing amid the wreckage
Books

Ground by Jadelin Gangbo review – hope for healing amid the wreckage

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know